Neel Mehta
Harvard CS '18

Hey! I'm Neel, a rising Harvard senior studying computer science. I'm passionate about using technology for social good, so I founded Coding it Forward, a community of 800+ students who are using their technology skills to purse careers in the social impact space.

This summer, I turned down offers from Microsoft and Facebook because I wanted to work in civic tech. Since there were no good civic tech internships, I started my own internship program: the Civic Digital Fellowship is sending 15 paid tech interns (out of over 220 applications) to the Census Bureau this summer.

Harvard University — BA in CS, 4.00 GPAby Neel Mehta

I study computer science at Harvard, where I also dabble in the social sciences and political science. I chair the Finance Committee on the undergraduate student body government, built Harvard's first open data catalog (and an open data community of hundreds), TA'ed the intro CS course (CS50), and helped lead the edtech and international development tech clubs.

Microsoft — Program Manager Internby Neel Mehta

I did UI/UX design and business strategy for Microsoft Project and Planner, two products in the Office family. At Project, the billion-dollar project management tool, I helped revamp the timesheeting system. And on Planner, I led the development of a first-run experience to improve engagement for 150 million monthly active users.

Coding it Forward — Cofounderby Neel Mehta

Along with Harvard students and faculty, I cofounded a community of 800+ students who are using their technology skills to purse careers in the social impact space. We've earned grants from the Shuttleworth Foundation and Harvard's Institute of Politics, as well as press coverage in govtech magazines, and we're on our way to becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Civic Digital Fellowship — Cofounder and Product Managerby Neel Mehta

I turned down offers from Microsoft and Facebook because I wanted to serve my country by working in civic tech. Seeing no good civic tech internships anywhere, I started a fully-funded data science and technology internship program in federal agencies, the first of its kind, in conjunction with Harvard and the US Census Bureau. In our first summer, we're sending 15 software engineers, data scientists, designers, and PMs to the Census. We got 220+ applications from 80 schools for these 15 spots, a 7% acceptance rate. I'll be a PM at the Census through this fellowship.

Khan Academy — Software Engineering Internby Neel Mehta

At the world's premier edtech nonprofit, I built a new email notification system for six million monthly active users and improved overall learning metrics by 3%.